I had got a call from Brian Higa several weeks ago wanting to book two days for he and his Dad, Larry. He was excited about the prospect of trying to land a bull on a fly rod. I assured him I would do my part to get him into one. With the weather forecast calling for a front to come through Mon. night, I was a little apprehensive about the conditions. They were calling for stiff winds of 20-25 mph......"the kiss of death" for trollers in most situations.

Mon. morning was ideal and we had the island run to ourselves for the first hour. It paid off with several nice bulls all caught on Lyman's. The 5 and 6 in. models were kicking butt with (3) bulls over 9 LB. topped by a 10.5 LB. trophy for Larry Higa. Our total for the day was (6) bulls of 3,4.5,5,9,9.5, and 10.5 Lb. The wind did arrive in the afternoon as promised but did not get up as high as forecast. During the night, I was awakened to my truck shaking to the winds that blow from late right up until 5:00 a.m. I couldn't believe it when the wind totally fell off at daybreak. It was another nice morning and we got right back on the same drill.

After a 9.5 LB. hen on the first pass, Brian wanted to try the fly rod. I suggested we cast some plugs up along the shore to do a little scouting first. After a couple of minutes casting, Brian hooked up on a 4 LB. bull that smashed his TX Minnow. We decided that conditions were right to do some slow trolling with the flies and we lined up for a productive area where we knew that fish were working. Brain had a take down on his 6 in. white bunny pattern but the bull didn't stick. At least we knew we had the speed and right depth with his full sinking line. I dug out a fly my buddy Jim Sutherland had sent me down from Canada that looked like a kokanee pattern to me. The 6 in. long fly had a second stinger hook about 4 in. back and looked so sexy in the water. We decided to put it on Larry's rod and it did the job. After only a few minutes of hard stripping at a slow troll, Larry was fast into a 3.5 LB. bull that was a blast to fight on the fly rod.

When the wind came up enough to forfeit the fly effort, the plugs produced another 6 LB. hen that was as beautiful as they come. The iridescent blue hue was striking in the early morning light. One of the rewards of a day on the water. The winds returned in the afternoon and we were forced to go down hill on all runs from that point on. Brian suggested that we make one more run before returning to the ramp to call it a day. Good thing we did! Half way down the run, the rod went over hard and this fish had some weight. Larry finally brought the big bull up and I netted the 31 in., 12 LB. trophy that capped a wonderful day on the water.

Screamin' Drags, Rick